A Moment in Time
by Solera
Summary: A moment is all it takes for everything to change. Time Tracer / Arc Tracer fanfic from a tumblr prompt. Rated M for twisted-ness. Not slash.


**Author's notes:**

Arc = Arc Tracer / Mastermind (You'll see by the end why this is here)

Time = Time Tracer

This fanfic was made for a prompt that I saw in tumblr by rubix-cat.

* * *

Arc could appreciate Time.

Time was very determined in his goal and Arc couldn't help but relate to him. Arc had decided to help Time at changing the past. He felt that with the two of them, they wouldn't have much problems to consider.

After days and months of arguing over theories and calculations, Arc and Time finally decided to test one of their more plausible theories.

It all started out fine. The machine didn't blow up on their faces and the apple they were testing it on looked fine. The two looking at each other with matching grins of success.

The grin on Time's face slowly fell when he noticed at the edge of his sight, that the apple on the machine was glowing and Arc was too close to the machine. He didn't think. He immediately pushed away Arc just as a huge explosion rocked their lab.

Arc groaned in pain as he came to. He shifted and took off the debris that was on top of him. He wondered what went wrong. "Time…?" he looks around weakly, feeling winded from the explosion being so close to him (and he can feel wounds on him too).

Arc had gotten up to his feet after a few minutes. He continued to look for his partner through the destroyed lab. "Time where are you…?" he started to feel scared. "Time?!" he shouted desperately, looking around more frantically. Half of the lab's wall was destroyed, blown up by the explosion from their mistake.

Arc looked at the machine with anger but saw the apple was still there, sitting innocently on the machine. He touched the apple experimentally and Arc frowned as his finger made an impression on the apple's surface. Carefully, he took the apple on his hands, and unexpectedly it breaks down. Inside the apple was a sloppy mess of El knows what.

He stared in horror at what he saw and tears unconsciously started pouring from his eyes. "No… No! **NO!** This– this isn't real– I…. **TIME WHERE ARE YOU?!**?!" he desperately shouted, completely in denial of what he saw.

Had Time made the jump instead of the apple?

Arc stared in horror at the smoking machine and the ruined apple in his hand. Would this be Time's fate as well? If Time really did the jump…he wouldn't survive that explosion and the pressure beyond it. The organic interior of his body would've degraded to the same state as the apple. **NO!** Arc tried to keep denying what his mind kept going to. Time was not dead! No, he can't be dead!

Hours of searching turned to days and it all led to nothing. Half of the lab was totaled. There was no sign of Time anywhere.

Arc eventually assumes him dead. He broke down, unbelieving of how easy Time was taken from him.

After mourning his loss for weeks, trying hard to cling to his memory of Time, he felt it was better he study the theories. He will improve on it in Time's memory. He will fix the missing factor that caused the meltdown. He will do it. He is a genius after all.

* * *

Time groaned as he woke up. He felt weak and groggy, forcing his body to move. "What hit me…. ow…." Time groaned again, feeling his wounds from the explosion.

Time sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate his wounds. He blinked, feeling some sort of sticky-ness on his left cheek. Time touched his face and looked at his hand, frowning at what he saw. "Black…? Oil? No… its not. What is this…?" It definitely was _not_ blood. Why was his eye leaking black tears?

He closed his right eye to check if his vision on the left had problems but found none. Time blinked in confusion but shook his head. If his vision was alright, then he didn't need to worry about that yet.

"Arc…?" he looked around at the grassy/moldy field. Where was he? "Where are you Arc?" Where was the lab? Why was he in a field? What happened to him? What happened to his eye?

So many questions filled his mind and he got a headache from it. "Ugh… I need to… get back… to the lab…" he slowly stood up wobbly. "What the hell happened to me?"

Slowly, he managed to drag his body onto a road that he knew was familiar. It was the road towards his–their lab. Time smiled at seeing the road and tried to go faster in his stride.

Time frowned when he saw the lab. The lab looked abandoned. It looked empty and overgrown with nature. It had a massive opening at its exterior wall. "Was that due to the explosion…? But…" _wasn't it just yesterday?_

Time went into the lab and frowned at the state of it. All of their _old?_ tools and machinery laid there coated with dust and moss. Looking up from the tables, he was surprised to see a long haired man that looked like Arc.

Wait…. Arc?

Was this man Arc?

Why did he look much older?

Why did everything seem to have aged?

Mastermind couldn't help but reminisce. This was one of the times he happened to be checking their former lab for signs of life. As he went in the lab where everything happened and ended, he came to a stop.

Time…?

Why was Time back? How? Why did he look like he didn't age?

Mastermind stared at Time with shock and confusion. He hasn't finished researching for a way to get Time back. No. This was not Time. This man- _boy_ is not real.

"Arc…?" the _illusion_ asked with a hoping and trembling tone.

"No… no! You're not Time," Mastermind growled as he walked forward and grabbed Time roughly, pulling him out of the lab.

"Arc what the hell-? OI!" Time tried to fight the older Arc but he was still weak and wounded from the explosion. "Arc- I'm Time! What the hell are you talking about?!"

"You're not him! Not until I fix you!" he kept on muttering as he forced Time onward with him.

"What? Fix me? I don't need any fixing- OW ARC STOP IT-" Time growled, trying to push himself away from Mastermind.

Mastermind dragged Time to his personal lab. The lab he made after Time had disappeared on him. Mastermind forced the trashing Time onto the lab-table, fully intent to fix this abomination that called himself his best friend.

"Arc… stop it…" Time begged as the older male restrained him with the leather straps attached to the table. "Please… don't do this… It's me, Time. _Stop this Arc_.."

Mastermind ignored the _illusion_ of his best friend. How could his best friend not age in ten years? That was too unbelievable. Not to mention…. "do you know your left eye is black? It looks disgusting. You're definitely not the Time I know."

Time's eyes widened and he couldn't help but tear up at what his friend was saying. "I'm Time…. why… why won't you believe me…" he sobbed as Arc finished restraining his limbs.

"Don't worry…" Mastermind caressed Time's left cheek gently, smiling down at him. "I'll fix you. I definitely will… but first…" he looks at the black sclera eye in contempt. "I need to remove this abomination."

Time screamed in pain and trashed as much as he could as Mastermind gouged his left eye out. The pain was too much for him to bear and he passed out, his right eye pouring with too much tears.

Every day was the same for Time. It was always painful. Mastermind continued to experiment on him, determined on his so-called quest to fix Time.

Time wondered what happened to Arc to make him into something like this. A shell of his former self. Time wanted to get out. He wanted to escape.

He had a chance to escape when Mastermind removed his bindings.

Time didn't waste his chance and attacked Mastermind. Time pushed the older man down to the ground and straddled him, trying to choke the life out of Mastermind for all the pain he inflicted onto him.

Mastermind tried to push Time away but the boy surprisingly overpowered him.

Time began remembering the past with Arc. He loosened his chokehold.

Time cried. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Arc. Not after everything Arc did for him. Not after everything they been through. Even when Arc became this twisted being below him.

Time continued to cry for their lost friendship even as Mastermind took his hesitation to take back control of the situation. Time never fought back again.

Mastermind continued his research on the _illusion_ of his best friend.


End file.
